


Lost Souls like Lost Pets

by dragonofeternal



Series: Runaways [4]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-05 04:12:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12182664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonofeternal/pseuds/dragonofeternal
Summary: As their journey on the road continues, Judal makes trouble, love, and friends all in turn.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fall is here, and so Runaways is back again! For once, I will probably say that you should _probably_ read the previous installment, "Milk Carton Boys and Roadside Tall Tales," before you read this one, as the main conflict from that story carries over and concludes in this one. But you don't have to- at the end of the day it's your reading experience, and you can do whatever makes you happy. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this new installment in one of my fav periodical fics.

Judal hadn't slept well since Georgia. That in itself wasn't unusual- the whole of the time Hakuryuu had known Judal, which was most of his life, he had been more likely to be found awake than not if the moon was out, choosing instead to get his sleep by inches napping in trees. But since Georgia, it felt different. Finding Judal awake at two am, watching late night TV with the closed captions on so as not to wake Hakuryuu? Normal. Finding him standing by the door or the window of their hotel room, squinting into the fluorescent buzz of the parking lot, his hands fitful and his eyes haunted? Not so much. Even in the car, Judal seemed on edge- gone was any instance of him nodding off, head resting against the window as they drove over the flat expanse of highway.

They had ended up driving west again- when they'd hit the Florida border, Judal had loudly decided that Florida was lame, and that it was mostly swamp, and the bits that weren't swamp were Disney, and they couldn't afford Disney, so why go to Florida if you aren't going to go to Disney?

Hakuryuu let him rant, a small smile on his face. "I don't want to deal with any more creepy swamps either, Judal." 

Judal started, swore at him, and went off to take a piss.

* * *

The thing most people don't realize about pool is that it's mostly a game of math. Sure, they get that angles play a part, and it's an easy example to show high schoolers the importance of geometry- but that geometry is all through the game. The biggest skill in pool isn't in cue control or the mechanical elements that other games of sport hinge on, it's training your eye to see the math on the felt and make it happen. 

Hakuryuu hadn't been half bad at math in high school- he's no stereotypical Asian math genius, but he was never the kid that dreaded each test and report card. He watches Judal botch a shot so bad the cue ball skips off the table and laughs, a little smile on his face. 

"You're hopeless," he says, and Judal scowls. 

"It's not my fault the balls have a mind of their own! You're just good."

"Good enough to make you mess up your shots?" he teases.

"Your butt's good enough." 

Hakuryuu rolls his eyes and retrieves the cue ball from under a nearby chair, apologizing to the man sitting on it. The guy, big burly redneck dude, gives an unexpectedly warm smile and tells Hakuryuu not to worry. Hakuryuu apologizes again, because, well, what else was he supposed to do?

They were out in Tennessee now, and the crowd in the dimly lit cue club was not the kind of people they usually hung out with. They were the only non-white people there, save for a single elderly black man drinking at the bar, and the walls of the club were festooned with neon signs advertising cheap beer and something called "Topless Tuesdays." Hakuryuu is grateful that they rolled into town on a Wednesday.

Hakuryuu sinks two more balls on his turn, and Judal manages to sink a single of his stripes before missing a shot and passing the turn back to Hakuryuu, who proceeds to clear off the last of his balls and then sink the eight. Judal pouts so hard it almost has a sound.

"This is bullshit," he announces. "You're too good." He scans the bar, leaning on the cheap house cue. Hakuryuu sighs, watching Judal scope out the crowd until his eyes land on a lanky dude who had just managed to get a pretty solid win on guy in a pit-stained white shirt. "I'm gonna go play somebody else." 

Hakuryuu shakes his head, going to take a seat. "You're not going to find anyone worse than you in this bar, Judal." 

Judal flips Hakuryuu the bird as he walks over to the lanky guy. "Hey," he says, giving the lanky dude a lopsided grin. "Mind if I play a round with ya?"

The lanky guy eyes every gay inch of Judal like he's some sort of alien before looking him in the eye with a pitying smile. "We're playin' fer cash, kid." 

"That's cool," Judal says. "I have cash!" 

Hakuryuu can't help but wince at the childlike exuberance in his voice and the thought of Judal gambling. The American Pool Association patch ironed onto the shoulder of the lanky guy's jean jacket didn't help. "Please do not lose all our money," he calls from across the bar. Judal flips him the bird again.

The lanky dude shrugs and nods. "Well, if you're sure." They lay their cash down and rack up the balls.

The first game goes pretty quick- despite Judal getting lucky and managing to sink a ball on the break, _and_ then following it up by getting another, the guy he was playing cleaned up the table in the next three turns. Judal swears, and glances at Hakuryuu, and before Hakuryuu can protest he slaps down more money for another game, this time at a higher ante. That game is even worse, with the lanky guy cleaning the table and Judal seeming to let his frustration at losing so many times in a row get the better of him.

The lanky guy seems to take pity on Judal and invites him out for a smoke break. Hakuryuu can't hear what is said, so instead he watched them like a shadow play. Judal accepts a free cigarette, but he doesn't smoke it much past what was required to light it. There is story in the way he holds himself, the two of them almost silhouetted in yellow lights outside the bar, his hands telling a story of being on the road on their way to family, of how this place is pretty cool to hang in and how he wishes he could stay more than one night but hey, family, you know? The lanky guy warms up to Judal from the banter, and maybe he says something, but Hakuryuu doesn't know his spiel like he knows Judal's. Even if he isn't saying much though, Hakuryuu can see that he's letting his walls down, seeing Judal as eccentric and dumb- someone you don't feel too bad robbing blind in pool. They come back in, and Hakuryuu can hear Judal weedling another game out of the guy.

Hakuryuu forces himself just to drink his coke and not smile.

Game three looks like pure dumb luck. Judal certainly calls it that when the eight ball sinks on the break, and the lanky guy smacks his forehead in surprise. 

"A win's a win, I guess," Judal laughs, "but hey, I don't feel good sayin' that's the end. Wanna re-rack and we can play one more, make it fair?" 

The thing about pool is it's a game all about math. And the thing about Judal is that he's nowhere near as dumb as most people take him for. Money is slapped down, the balls are reracked in the triangle, and the hunt is on. Hakuryuu can practically hear the Jaws theme play in his head as he watches Judal mutter to his cue and the balls, awkwardly arranging himself before lining up shots so precise that you'd think he was a firing squad. He makes it look accidental. The lanky guy never saw it coming.

Judal shakes his head and laughs. "I dunno how I did that," he says with perfectly practiced honesty after sinking the eight.

The lanky dude stares at the table. "Me either." 

Judal collects the stack of money they'd both ponied up. Something close to $200, if Hakuryuu had been counting right. "I think I'm gonna take that luck and bow out then. Lightning definitely never strikes thrice." The lanky dude shakes his head, still puzzling it all out, and Judal comes back to Hakuryuu, slipping him the cash. "I'm gonna take a piss and meet you at the car," he whispers. "I hustled that dumbass blind. Let's get outta here before anyone else realizes there's blood in the water."

Hakuryuu smiles and shakes his head. "Shark," he whispers back, kissing Judal on the cheek before they parted ways.

* * *

Judal's good mood continues after they're back in the room, excitedly chattering about what a picture-perfect hustle it had been. Maybe they should expand their grift repertoire- he'd heard one about a violin using two people that sounded like a hoot.

"Maybe," Hakuryuu says, in a voice that means 'no' but doesn't want to ruin the moment. "Maybe we can try some more."

"I'm just getting too good at pool hustling, you know?" Judal says, flopping in Hakuryuu's lap. The cheap motel bed spring wheezes under him. "It's losing the challenge."

"That's a good thing," Hakuryuu says with a chuckle, running his fingers through Judal's hair. "We wouldn't be able to keep going if we run out of money. And then where would we be?" That makes Judal quiet. Hakuryuu sighs, realizing his misstep, and moves his hand to rub the creases out from between Judal's brows. The jubilant air is gone, and the shadows have returned.

"How long are we going to keep running?" Judal asks. 

Hakuryuu had never meant to stay on the road. His goal had been instead to just disappear, to enter the chrysalis of the road and emerge on the other side as another person, with another life. He hadn't meant to circle the country like a vulture, one eye always trained on the rotten core he had flown from. Judal- cruel, stupid, tender, clever Judal- had changed that. Hakuryuu didn't cast blame. It was simply how things were. He wouldn't trade Judal's closeness for a simple, stolen life. 

He answers with a simpler, easier truth. "I don't know." 

Judal chews on that for a bit. "Keep this up and we're gonna have all kinds of enemies." 

Hakuryuu knew Judal didn't mean disgruntled pool players in dingy pool halls. Time on the road was teaching them that theirs was not the only secret world hidden behind modern conveniences and manicured lawns.

"Even if the Wolg does find us out here," Hakuryuu comforts, "the Nodoroc's going to be a hell of a walk for it to drag us back to. I don't think it's prepared for a three hundred mile road trip with you."

Judal cracks a grin. "I'm a menace." 

"You are."

Judal sits up some, craning his neck so he could kiss Hakuryuu. Hakuryuu answers it tenderly, curling his fingers under Judal's head to support him. Judal's lips might be chapped, but his hair is as soft as ever. How does he do it? The deepen the kiss, and both of them let that tenderness drive off the demons lurking in the corners of their minds. 

Judal breaks the kiss only so he can pepper Hakuryuu's lips with more quick, feather-light kisses. "We might be in Tennessee," he whispers, "but you're the only ten I see." 

Hakuryuu groans a little bit. It's a terrible pun, the kind that should have irrevocably ruined the mood, but instead he finds himself charmed and relieved to hear Judal cracking jokes again. "I guess you should look in a mirror then." 

"That's awful."

"So was yours!"

Judal snickers a little at Hakuryuu's offense, then kisses him again. His hands find Hakuryuu's face and hair, caressing and petting and clinging. Hakuryuu inclines his neck, inviting Judal to move his attentions, and Judal obliges with a little snicker. He kisses a line from Hakuryuu's lips to his ear. Hakuryuu murmurs with wordless pleasure at the attention, shuddering under the light and fluttering touches. 

"Do you mind if I eat you out?" Hakuryuu says softly.

Judal chuckles as he kisses his way down Hakuryuu's scar from cheek to neck and down to his collarbone. "Do I mind? Why the hell would I?" He nips Hakuryuu's collarbone. "Though you might have to wait until I'm done with you." 

"Mmm, I'm holding you to that," Hakuryuu says. "Sometimes you can be inconsistent with what you want. And I would never want to impose." 

Judal bites, almost hard enough that the feeling isn't pleasurable, and then sucks on the bite. "I'm a stud." 

"Please at least be a careful stud then," Hakuryuu asks gently, curling his hand through Judal's hair. 

Judal laughs as he tugs Hakuryuu's shirt up and off him. Despite how hard he bit, Judal has learned how to be a tender lover over their months on the road. His hands are light, dancing down Hakuryuu's chest and across his hips with grace that shows no hint of his early inexpertise. He kisses Hakuryuu more until the pants are off, freeing Hakuryuu for more intense attention.

Somehow Judal even manages to make sucking dick seem like a conversation he's running. Hakuryuu clutches at Judal's hair, guiding Judal faster or slower as Judal works him from soft, slow intimacy to euphoric release. When he's done, he gives Hakuryuu a cheeky grin, all too satisfied with his work.

Unfolding Judal into ecstasy is a trickier task. For as demanding as he is in other aspects of life, Judal is almost reserved in the bedroom. Nerves make him jumpy and oversensitive, and Hakuryuu has a hard time getting him to relax into the touch of his hands and mouth. But he does relax, inch by inch, melting into moans and undulating motions of hip beneath Hakuryuu. The sound and sight are as delicious as the act itself, and by the time Judal comes, Hakuryuu feels like he's feasted on every pleasure known. 

Hakuryuu places a kiss on the flat of Judal's stomach before crawling back up the bed to cradle in Judal's arms. 

"Don't worry," Judal says, almost asleep. "I'll let you go back to being the worry-wort soon."

"Mmmhmm." Hakuryuu nuzzles Judal as they shift into sleeping positions. "You're right. It's my job to be the responsible one. What will people think if you start taking my good points?"

Judal doesn't respond; he's already fast asleep.

Hakuryuu smiles and makes himself shut his eyes. "Good night, Judal."

* * *

_LOST DOG,_ the flyer says.

Only those two words, "LOST DOG," gave any clue as to what the photo below is supposed to be. The rest of the flyer is rain-bled to illegibility, and the picture is now an indecipherable gray-scale blob. Had this been a face? A full-body shot? Photographic evidence of some sort of horrific monster that could only be called "dog" in the loosest sense of the word? 

Whoever had put the flyer up had slipped the paper into a plastic binder sheet to try and protect it. The dog in question was probably long gone by now. Judal stares at it a long time, scrutinizing the runny gray like it's tea leaves in a cup, and it will give him answers to some unspoken question.

"Judal," Hakuryuu calls from the car. "We should get going. I don't want to sit on the side of the road like this forever." 

"Yeah," Judal says, pulling the pushpin out of the flyer and taking it down. "Coming."

* * *

Finding a good tourist trap to stop at proved a little tricky. Hakuryuu didn't want to do Memphis or Nashville because of the crowds, and so they lost out on Graceland and untold other musical glories. Neither of them wanted to do the Jesus-y shit, either- religious fanaticism hits a little too close to home regardless of the god in question. Judal ends up losing a few hours on a public library computer looking for spots online- not the organic way he usually finds things, but it serves.

In the end, they have to backtrack a ways, going back up towards the eastern side of the state to a little town called Sweetwater and a cave attraction worthy of their time. It feels good to be driving without direction again, zig-zagging back and forth without mind to progress. They blare the radio and Judal sings along. 

Driving diagonally across Tennessee feels like it takes all day, but around late afternoon they turn off the highway and onto Route 68. Then, about seven miles later, they see the sign on left- The Lost Sea Adventure. Judal grins at Hakuryuu, and Hakuryuu shakes his head, smiling. Somehow it doesn't look how Judal was expecting. He always imagined caves in mountains, but the entrance to the Lost Sea looks like a rest stop got cozy with a decent sized hill. They pay their fare and then descend, down, down into the earth. 

Technically it's not a sea, just a subterranean lake, but who cares when the name is that good? Judal certainly doesn't, and the tour guide clears up the misleading name fast enough that Hakuryuu doesn't have too much room to complain. The tour takes them down wide, sweeping pathways, and Judal oggles at stalactites and stalagmites, occasionally taking pictures with his phone. As they walk, the hear stories of the cave- boring geology and stories of its folksie discovery and how it was used to store everything from moonshine to atomic fallout rations.

The tour pauses at a hole lit with red lights, and the guide takes great flourish in telling them about how a group of wiccans once fled the room in terror, claiming there was too much power coming from it. The guide called it "The Devil's Hole."

Hakuryuu glances over at Judal. "Is it really that powerful?" he asks in a doubtful little whisper.

Judal takes a moment to consider, feeling the air and trying to separate the hole itself from the rest of the magical static of belief. "Hmm… It's powerful, to be sure. Not my style but… It's interesting. And the lights, and all these people staring at it and fearing it and telling stories about it?" As they turn down to rejoin the tour, Judal scoffs. "In a couple more decades it'll be something fuckin' scary powerful I'd guess."

Hakuryuu nods, smiling a little. "Maybe some other time then." 

The tour takes them down to the deepest depths, and they both stare out over the still expanse of the Lost Sea. There's a boat waiting, the last portion of the tour, and they let the other tour goers on before them, taking a moment to appreciate the water before they clamber in too. Below they can see fish swimming lazily, and the tour guide tells them that no one knows for sure how deep the waters go. Here Judal is quiet, simply drinking in the sight and strangeness and power of the place.

When the tour is done they eat dinner at the little cafe across the parking lot. Judal frowns a little, disappointed to see that the decor doesn't match his ideas of what a "Cavern Kitchen" should look like, and they eat okay sandwiches while the bored teens behind the counter chat amongst themselves about homework and school and life.

Afterwards, they use the last bit of daytime browse the general store until the employees warn they're closing soon, and then pile back into the car. 

"You want to find a motel?" Judal asks, cocking his head to the side. 

Hakuryuu shakes his head. "No, I think I can drive through the night."

Judal kisses Hakuryuu's hand with a grin and kicks his feet up on the dash. "If you're sure! I've been feeling antsy from being in this state too long anyway, so I'm good to keep going too."

Hakuryuu pulls the car out of the parking lot and back onto the state highway while Judal starts up the radio for the long night ahead.

* * *

In the Old Days, the Wolg never had to follow prey this far. The road is hard on its paws over such great distance, hot and unforgiving against the pads of its feet. People were easier to scare then, and wickedness moved at a slower pace. Now it can't go a day without having the pull of other prey distract it from the boy who tried to rewrite the Nodoroc. 

The Wolg forces itself ever onward, ignoring these other evils. So far from home. So hungry.

It loses the scent more than once, the chaotic path its prey weaves twisting the Wolg's tongue up in knots as it tries to understand how to follow. 

But it will follow. And it will find them.

Whizz-thump.

The Wolg does not forget slights.


	2. Chapter 2

Judal lies on his side, listening as the fan kicks on in the window A/C unit of their motel room. It wheezes like a dying thing, and pairs well with the mildly asthmatic whistle of Hakuryuu's breath. Night sounds.

Someone who had been in the room before them- maybe an employee, maybe another tenant- had tied ribbon to the vents on the A/C unit, and now Judal watches as it wriggles in the artificial breeze. For all the peace, he feels uneasy. Judal slips from the bed, padding over to stare out the window. No sign of pursuers, and nothing worth staring at. Judal shivers- from cold, not nerves- and realizes that he left his hoodie in the car. 

He creeps back over to the bed, kissing Hakuryuu on the forehead as he takes the keys.

"Don't drive anywhere," Hakuryuu mumbles, half asleep. "You don't have your license."

"I'm just getting my hoodie," Judal assures him, but Hakuryuu has already fallen back asleep. Judal snorts a little laugh and fondly tostles Hakuryuu's hair before slipping outside.

The hoodie is right where Judal remembers it, but when he picks it up a crumpled paper tumbles from his pocket. Judal frowns, bending down to pick it up. The words Lost Dog answer his question. Judal's frown deepens, and instead of going back to bed, he sits down in the passenger seat. 

A lot of lost pets never make it home. That's just how it goes. They die, or go feral, or find new homes, or, fuck, shoot pool and smoke cigars in Don Bluth movies or something. This dog, whatever it looked like, was probably no exception. 

When they were kids, Judal and Hakuryuu had a falling out. It was over a lot of things- some petty, most not- but the thing that kept Judal from ever genuinely trying to patch things up before this was… Well, a lot of things. But right now, in this moment, the slight that seems the worst is what Hakuryuu called Judal.

"You're just a dog of Al Tharman's" he'd said. "So why don't you go back to kissing my mother's ass and acting like a lunatic instead of pretending to be my friend." 

The funny thing was that then, at what? Fourteen? Twelve? Sixteen? The funny thing was that the worst part had been the insinuation that Judal was obedient. That he mindlessly did as he was told. That someone, _anyone,_ could make him do something. Judal had felt invincible back then.

Judal traces a finger over the flyer's mottled surface, smirking to imagine it about himself. Lost dog. Black hair, red eyes. Aggressive with strangers, children, family. Answers to Judal, and also to Asshole, and also to the creepy pet names you give kids groomed into magical murder machines. Big cash dollar reward.

Judal's a lost dog who'd rather die than go home, and it makes him smile a little. Most lost pets don't make their way home. And honestly…

"Fuck," Judal says to interrupt his own thoughts. "When did I turn into such a sap?"

Honestly, he was one of those dogs that found better homes by running away. This car, this life, Hakuryuu? It might shaky and transient, but it was his, damn it! His home he found, all on his own. Him and Hakuryuu, two lost souls in a lost land, gettin' lost on back roads together and finding their way again. No sad, forgotten flyer needed. But it did get him thinking.

Judal finds gel pens in the glovebox, and the light of the parking lot streetlamps is enough to work by. He thinks of the Nodoroc, of another terrible thing with red eyes prowling through the night. Metallic gel pens are a kind of magic, or, at least, they're fucking sparkly as shit, and that's basically as good. 

Judal snorts, thinking of mages who slave over spells in secret places and guarded wells of power. A real pro can whip up some reality warping whenever, wherever- even, or perhaps especially, if the when is the asscrack of the morning and the where is in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

There has never been a "normal" to their lives. The commonplace and everyday of the way they lived in Al Tharman's remote compound is mundanely monstrous when compared to the outside world, and their life on the road is long and distant and lonesome when held against living in just one place. But Judal and Hakuryuu are survivors. They adapt, continuing to live and spit and thrive even when they shouldn't. They are unkillable apartment cockroaches and tenacious desert plants, each with their own adapted skill set for survival. 

At a rest stop on the state line, Judal howls with commiserative fury as a truck driver tells him that Tennessee made all the porn stores shut down their theatres and video booths. It's a travesty, he agrees, and good riddance that they're leaving this bullshit state behind. Hakuryuu marvels how Judal, who has killed so many people in cold blood and claims nothing but distaste for those who he hasn't yet killed, can slot back in with them so easily. 

The man laughs when Judal offers to trade him magic for gas, but he doesn't say no. They leave with a full tank, and the trucker leaves with a hula girl dashboard ornament that will ensure he gets lucky the next time he tries to hook up with someone. It's real, tacky magic, and Hakuryuu tries not to be antsy that Judal has become more loose with using his gifts.

Hakuryuu's own misanthropy isn't so easily misplaced, but he does have one soft spot. When they cross over the border, he pulls off without prompting when he sees a sign advertising an open-air flea market. The look of wonder on Judal's face as he drinks in the sight of local crafts and vintage signs and absolute garbage tchotchkes brings a small smile to Hakuryuu's lips. The rest of everything is worth it when he sees Judal happy. 

They buy some fresh produce from a local farmer and munch on it as they wander the aisles, Judal surprisingly discerning as he tries to pick what might be worth his money. In the end he surprises Hakuryuu, holding out a tasteful wallet clip to him.

"Thought you might like it," he says, and Hakuryuu agrees that yes, he thinks he does.

* * *

On long, dark stretches of night, when the mind is wild but the body is sore, Walmart is as good as any fancy bed and breakfast. 

Judal cackles as they explore the aisles, dodging weird looks from tired stock workers and cooing over random mass-market bullshit. Hakuryuu follows behind, physically tired but needing to stretch his legs. There's something calming about the sameness of Walmart. The off white tile. The same songs. The faint whine of the lights. At least Judal seems happier the last few days- oh, wait never mind. 

Hakuryuu smacks Judal's hand away from something, seeing the glint of mischief in his eye.

"Don't steal," he says. "I don't want to have to bail you out of jail for shoplifting shit you don't even want from a Walmart."

"What if I shoplift something I _do_ want?" Judal counters. "They had a pretty decent selection of drugstore makeup, and I've heard good things about-"

"The answer is still no." Hakuryuu's tone is final. "Why don't we go look at the books? Sometimes you find trashy urban fantasies you like."

Judal follows along after Hakuryuu. "We should get another book on tape. That was really fun while it lasted."

Hakuryuu smiles. "That does sound like a good idea."

Walmart doesn't have books on tape that appeal, but they get a couple trashy paperbacks that look fun enough. Judal has too much fun inflicting bad romance summaries on Hakuryuu, and so eventually Hakuryuu drags him away to grab more snacks for the car. They split, foolishly, in the cosmetics section, where Hakuryuu goes to get more dry shampoo and pretend that Judal won't steal makeup while he isn't looking.

Hakuryuu's make believe is almost right. Judal doesn't steal any makeup. Instead, he slips away to the pet section, pocketing the biggest dog collar he can find before rushing back to the makeup to pretend to stare at foundations when Hakuryuu comes to collect him. They check out with Hakuryuu none the wiser, and load their purchases into the back seat. 

Their minds and legs satisfied, they decide to sleep there for a few hours before they return to the road.

* * *

Untold travel changes people. 

The Wolg is not a People, but it too feels the wear of the road, so far from the Nodoroc. It can scarcely remember the sulfurous bog-smell of its home, can barely recall the feeling of rest. It feels thin, its magic stretched out and worn from distance.

A parking lot is not the an epic field of battle, but it is where it finds its prey, sleeping with foolish soundness. It grins, revealing teeth and gums discolored from dryness, and it thinks of what it will be like to sink its teeth into its prey and drag it back home. Failing that, its stretched-thin magic will snap, and the Wolg will know the restfulness of death. 

One way or another, it will be over soon.

* * *

Judal wakes to the squeal of tires as the car lurches out of their parking spot. 

"What? Huh? Where?" He blinks sleep from his eyes, raking his hands through his hair and gaping dumbly at Hakuryuu.

Hakuryuu's jaw is set as he speeds from the parking lot. Judal frowns. 

"Hakuryuu what the fuck. You scared the shit outta me!" And yet still he does not reply. Judal feels a creeping dread he can't quite place. "Hakuryuu!" 

"It was the Wolg," Hakuryuu hisses, as quiet as if he's afraid of being heard. 

Judal stares at Hakuryuu, studying his face as they speed away, the way he twinges at running a red light or grinds his teeth when they pass speed limit signs too fast to read them. Hakuryuu had never wanted to run like this. Judal knows he changed that. 

"Stop the car," Judal says. 

Hakuryuu glances over at him like he's lost his mind. "Judal, whatever you're planning, now is not the time." 

Judal, however, is undeterred, already reaching to unbuckle his seatbelt. "Stop the car, or I'm going to jump out while it's still moving." 

"Judal!" 

The seatbelt clicks open, and Judal reaches for the door. No. They're going too fast. Hakuryuu accidentally wrenches the wheel as he tries to snap Judal's seatbelt back in. Judal tries to- he's not sure what. Hakuryuu's foot hits the brake before he can be sure, and the car squeals and spins out onto the dirt shoulder and into the grass. Judal is thrown into the front console, but the seatbelt catches and he goes not further than that. The car goes still there in a field. 

They slowly open their eyes to to the realization that neither is dead or maimed. 

"Don't." Hakuryuu spits. "Do. That." 

Judal pants a little from the nerves and squirrels back out of his seatbelt. "If you'd just stopped the car-"

"I'm not going to stop the car so you can almost get eaten by some demonic dog thing again!" Hakuryuu hates how hot his face and eyes feel, but he has to keep going. "You might be suicidally reckless, but I'm not going to let you hurt yourself over something we could just avoid-"

"Oh, so you're just going to keep running?" Judal snorts, dismissive. "When did you turn into Hakuei?"

That makes Hakuryuu's tears start to fall. "Don't bring my sister up to turn this into a fight." 

"I know you didn't want to spend the rest of your life running," Judal snarls back. He doesn't want to make it a fight, either, but he can't take the barbs out of his voice. "I'm the reason you have to keep running. The least I can do is take care of this and-"

"I let you stick around because I love you!" Hakuryuu wipes at his face, but the tears won't stop falling. "I could have ditched you any time, but I liked having you around. I love you, and I wouldn't give up your companionship for some… some delusion that I'd be safe if I did!"

"I…" Judal lets go of the door. "I love you, too."

Hakuryuu sniffles, rubbing his eyes again. "I know." He hates crying. It makes him feel like a child, and he's nowhere near a child anymore. 

Judal reaches over and gently flicks Hakuryuu in the forehead to make him look up. When their eyes meet, Judal gives him an unsure little smirk, and Hakuryuu laughs. Outside, the whizz-thump of the Wolg's tail grows louder and louder. 

"I can do this," Judal assures him. "Trust me. Cuz you love me. And I'm awesome." 

Hakuryuu laughs a little more. "What are you going to do?"

Judal's smirk widens, more confident and true. "I've gotten too good at making enemies. It's boring now. I think it's high time I learned how to make some friends instead."

Whizz-thump. Whizz- _thump._

Hakuryuu shakes his head. "You're such a dork." 

Judal winks and pulls out a folded piece of paper. "No way. I am an absolute badass." 

Hakuryuu kisses him on the lips. "Be safe?"

Judal nods and opens the car door. 

The Wolg is smaller than Judal's nightmares remembered it. It snarls at the sight of him, showing off dry gums and yellowed fangs. The glowing coals of its eyes are tired and vicious, a mirror of his own. He a lot of himself in this thing, so, so far from home.

Judal unfolds the lost dog flyer, scribbled over with gel pen sigils. If you squint, the nasty smear of a picture could almost be the Wolg. "Come here boy. Here boy."

The Wolg snarls, lunging at Judal. Judal dances aside, and it crashes into the car, leaving a nasty dent in the rear passenger door. 

Judal scowls. "Bad dog! Don't snap at people!" The marks on the flyer begin to clow. "Come here, boy. Good boy. Come here." 

The Wolg growls, but doesn't budge. Magic grows thick in the air, and Judal pulls the collar he stole from Walmart out with his other hand. Tools and focuses make it easier to shape molten reality without getting burned. 

"You're tired, aren'tcha buddy. Tired and lost. Not a bad dog, just a scared one." Judal whistles, and the Wolg quirks its head at the sound. "Come here boy, good boy, who's a pretty puppy?"

The Wolg quirks its head the other way, its tail whizzing around in a circle. Hakuryuu wouldn't call this monster, with its uneven legs and too-long snake's tongue, a "pretty puppy," but the more Judal talks magic around it, the more ugly-cute and docile the Wolg looks. It makes a low, warbling noise, and Judal coos and calls it again.

"Come here boy! Come here." Judal slaps his thighs, his voice taking on the sing-song tone reserved for pets and babies, and the Wolg responds by bouncing down into a playful dog bow. Judal bounces from to one side, then to the other, and the Wolg follows with its head, tail wagging excitedly. "Come here, good boy!" 

The Wolg bounds for Judal, jubilantly jumping up on his chest. It almost bowls him over, and Judal has to push it down. 

"Okay, okay, no jumping, there you go, good boy." The hardest part of getting the collar on the Wolg is avoiding getting excited dog kisses all over his hands. Judal looks up at Hakuryuu with a big dumb grin, and Hakuryuu gapes back. "So we can keep him, right?"

* * *

The air is cool and refreshing as they drive down the highway, the Wolg's head lolling out the window so its bifurcated tongue can pant in the breeze. Hakuryuu finds himself smiling as well, and if he were the humming sort, he probably would have hummed a happy tune as they drove. 

"Are we going to have to struggle with finding pet-friendly hotels now?" he asks Judal. 

"Mmm, maybe." Judal reaches into the back seat to scratch the Wolg. It felt softer now, and with every day it looks less like a horrid monster and more like a particularly ugly mutt. "But I mean, this guy's survived out and about on his own before, I doubt he'd mind having to chill in the car or out in the woods while we sleep." 

Hakuryuu grunts in reply, not sure he wants to leave the Wolg unsupervised (and a little sad at the thought that they might have to leave it outside.)

"We should name him," Judal continues. "Get him some dog tags. That way if we do have to leave him outside, people will know he's ours."

"Ah yes, I would love for everyone to know that we own a massive hell-beast," Hakuryuu teases, but Judal just laughs it off, flipping through his phone for the nearest pet store with a tag cutting machine.

The summer's fever had broken, and the seasons changed to fall. The leaves along the winding mountain path were turning, and soon they would fall like brilliant rain. For now the road was their home. But bit by bit, maybe, that was changing too.


End file.
